Time's Music Box
by Skittytales
Summary: All those who run from the future are welcome to lose themselves in the music. Come, look closer, watch the mirrors - see the brilliant reflections of the past. Based on Music Box of Time.


The sun was just beginning to climb higher into the sky, and the little cobblestone square was beginning to wake up. On all sides, storeowners were opening their doors and letting in the first batches of customers. A small girl in a puffy red dress dashed between the legs of the crowd, smiling and passing out flyers. Two clowns stood on an old wooden box, selling balloons to wide-eyed children.

A young girl stepped out into the streets, smiling peacefully. Her long black dress swept about her ankles, and her pale pink hair fell around her face in gentle waves. In her hands she carried an ornate, polished wood box.

She stood in front of an ivy-covered stone wall that marked off the end of the square, glancing around at the crowds. Already, there was a small knot of people gathered nearby her, watching carefully; these people were used to all forms of street entertainment.

She smiled reassuringly at them. There were not many – perhaps three or four – but she knew more would soon come.

With a small nod to the crowd, the girl opened the box in her hands gently. There was a squeaking of cogs, and then a small, tinny melody floated out of the music box.

The crowd drew slightly closer, listening closely to the song. "I think I've heard this before," one of them said slowly, approaching the girl.

She nodded to him serenely. "I wouldn't be surprised if you had, sir. Most everyone knows this tune."

"Well, what's it called?" a woman beside him asked, walking up curiously and tilting her head, as if that could help her hear better.

"Time's Music Box," the girl answered.

The woman furrowed her brow. "I've never heard of it."

"Oh, I'm sure you have, ma'am," the girl replied, gazing at her knowingly. "_Everyone_ has heard it before."

As the crowd drew closer, absorbed in identifying just where they had heard the enticing melody, they became suddenly more interested in the music box itself. Upon closer inspection, they could see that the interior of the box was entirely covered in hundreds of tiny mirrors, each reflecting back at the other, creating a kaleidoscope of distorted images within the ornate box.

"That's quite a music box," one member of the crowd said in awe, bending closer to examine his own distorted reflection.

"It certainly is," the young girl agreed. The crowd around her had reached nearly thirty people. The two clowns glared jealously at her from across the street, but she just smiled back at them.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd gasped. "It-it moved!" she cried, pointing a gloved finger at the box. "One of the pictures changed…"

The others leaned in curiously, murmuring to one another. And indeed, each reflection seemed to be changing independently. As the crowd watched, each person slowly fell silent, until everyone was staring in captivated silence at the mirrors in the music box.

The girl surveyed the faces of the crowd carefully. Many simply looked shocked, a few were smiling. One woman near the front had begun to cry silently, hypnotized by the warped pictures in the mirrors.

The music box began to squeak as the melody slowed, and it rang out two more slow, haunting notes before falling silent. The girl closed the music box with a snap, and the crowd seemed to start as one. Their eyes unclouded, and they looked around nervously, as though they had forgotten just where they were.

One by one, the crowd dissolved, walking off in groups of twos and threes, each shaking their head in apparent confusion. Finally, there remained only four or five standing grouped around the box. One of them was the woman who had been crying, and she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and stuttered, "C-can…can you m-make it play again?"

"Of course," the girl said, placing a hand on the hinge of the box. "But – forgive me, I have to make a living somehow – it is only free the first time."

The young girl watched in mild amusement as the people dug frantically into their pockets, pouring coins into the girl's outstretched hand. She smiled and pocketed the money, before lifting the lid of the box once more.

The soft melody chimed out from the hollow box, and her audience leaned in once more, losing themselves in the beautiful mirrors lining the music box.

~*~

_Just a short, random little story I wrote because I love Music Box of Time so much, and I couldn't find any stories about it. Anyone who has read my Dark Woods Circus story might see the similarities here. Reviews are loved very much, but favorites are nice too. I just like to know people read it, at least. _


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